I love to run. Each time I wake up early in the morning, put on my running shoes, step outside and take a lung full of the fresh morning air; I say a silent thank you to all those wonderful people in my life that introduced me to running.

It all started a couple of years back when a few people I follow on the internet started talking about the benefits of running. I had till then had heard many people mention its benefits to me but something about documented writing that it has a stronger impact on your psyche. A short while later I decided to give it a shot, “In the worst case, I lose a couple of hours of sleep for a few days” I told myself.

Then started the amazing journey that climaxed at the Sunfeast 10K run in 2009, with me successfully running my first 10K run in under 60 mins. I still consider that as one of the my finest achievements. It was one of those few goals that has paid incredible dividends in my life and continues to inspire me when things don’t go my way.

So why am I getting all nostalgic about all this? Well its got to do with my recent decision to publicly post information about my running habits. I was very skeptical about doing it but felt that it was similar posts that helped me discover so much.

The public posts have lead to a lot of talk among my friends about my running habits. In the last couple of months it has come up in conversation more often than I can remember and it has led to a fair share of friendly jibes between my buddies. But there was also a development that has totally astounded me.

In all this talk about how often I run and why; there have been at-least 3 of my friends that have started running. There have been a few that mentioned that they needed to get back to it and some have even taken the step and restarted after years. Oddly most of these people were the ones that ragged me initially for posting about my runs :)

Watching these developments around me always leaves a smile on my face. I have always believed that inspiring someone to achieve something is one of the noblest acts one can perform. There are so many people around us who discourage and find faults in genuine attempts that its very easy to get disheartened and give up. Thats why I love the people around me that inspire me to push my limits.

To be honest my attempts at the running track aren’t anything spectacular. Most people I know run twice as long as I can and are far more disciplined. I know friends who are running full marathons and climbing to the Everest Base camp in the coming months. Its hard not to be motivated when you have such people around you :)

Thank you wonderful people for keeping me inspired :)